Alice & Jane: 1868
by Fedora-Head
Summary: Alice Liddell and Jane Porter were childhood friends... A sequel to 'Alice in Wonderland', as well as a prequel to 'Tarzan', this story concerns the adventures these two embarked on before and after their respective films.
1. Butterflies and photographs

The blue was so overwhelmingly vibrant, it seemed to swallow her mind whole. She could stare deep into the azure wings for hours and simply forget her troubles. It was always a relief to imagine that she could just drop the miserable thoughts into those colored depths like stones into the ocean, and watch them fall away forever. Unfortunately that relief was only ever transient. In truth, those wings were flat.

The Morpho Menelaus was displayed prominently in the center of the frame, surrounded by the smaller specimens. Out of all the insects in her mothers collection, this butterfly was always Jane's favorite. Now it belonged to her.

For two years now it hung above her drawing table, directly across from her bed. The last thing she would see before sleep, and the first thing each time she awoke. She felt a little better now. Having indulged in her meditation for ten minutes or so. She felt more comfortable with the prospect of meeting strangers.

Her mother and father had been friends with Mr. Liddell for years before _his_ passing nearly a decade ago. He accompanied them on an expedition to South America. That was where the Morpho Menelaus came from. Mr. Liddell took on the considerable challenge of wildlife photography. It was a challenge because at this point in history the leading photographic method was the collodion process. This required the photographer to make use of a portable dark room, within which they would have merely ten minutes to properly develop the photograph.

The result was an understandably cumbersome and frustrating experience, though perhaps that was the point. According to her father, Mr. Liddell was a glutton for adversity and just a little bit mad, albeit in a charming way. Always failing to take his own advice and relishing in the chaotic consequences.

Not at all like Jane. She wondered now, with only slight apprehension what his daughters might be like.

Hopefully not too mad.


	2. Waking and tea

"And, uh, what were you saying, my dear?" The queen asked with sinister satisfaction, leering down at the accused. It was then that Alice noticed the Cheshire Cat, sat atop the queens crown.

"Well she simply said that you're a fat, pompous, bad-tempered old tyrant!" The cat chimed in, much to the horror of poor Alice.

"OFF WITH HER HEAD!"

What came next was a sheer, convoluted calamity as Alice fled from the queen, her card guards and seemingly the rest of Wonderland. Eventually she came upon the Doorknob levitating before her, and she lunged forward, seized his nose and attempted to turn it.

"Ohh!" exclaimed the Doorknob. "Still locked you know?"

"But the queen. I simply must get out." Alice pleaded, still trying franticly to turn it.

"But you are outside."

"What?"

"See for yourself." She peered into the keyhole to see that the Doorknob was correct. There she was, sleeping under a tree with Dinah on her lap.

"Why... why that's me! I'm asleep." Alice felt a jarring shift in her consciousness as she realized this was all a dream.

"Don't let her get away! Off with her head!" As the Wonderlanders bore down upon her, she forced the dream to a close.

All the chaos went calm and she heard her sister Elizabeth's voice.

"Alice. Will you kindly pay attention and recite your lesson?"

"Hmm? Oh!" Alice shot up to her feet. "Uh, how doth the little crocodile improve his shining tail, and pour the waters of the-"

"Alice, what are you talking about?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. But you see the Caterpillar said-"

"Caterpillar? Oh, for goodness sake. Alice, I- Oh well. Come along it's time for tea." Alice scooped up Dinah and the three of them started on their way out of the park. Now fully awake, Alice remembered who they were to have tea with.

"Oh, that's right, we're meeting father's friend."

"Prof. Porter and his daughter Jane." Lizzie clarified. "Do you have Dinah?"

"Yes, I- I do..." Alice answered as she glanced down at the red and white kitten in her arms. For a split second she thought she saw Dinah _grinning._ Briefly startled by this, Alice shook her head and decided to ignore it.

 _"No."_ She thought to herself. _"That's quite enough of that... nonsense."_


	3. Carriage and house

**Notes on previous chapters and current one: 'Waking and tea' was the first chapter I wrote and uploaded, but it just felt off to me as an opening, so I decided to switch it with 'Butterflies and photographs'. I'm going to try and avoid those kind of switcheroos from now on, due to some cumbersome glitches I've encountered with the site. I don't even want to take any chances updating chapters after they're uploaded, as that's caused weird document screw ups as well. so from now on I'll have to write multiple chapters in advance before I commit to uploading them. My chapters tend to be bite sized though so it shouldn't be a problem.**

 **In keeping with the spirit of the Disney movies, (and just for the fun of it) I'm invoking "Artistic license-history" A LOT with this story. I'll include notations at the end of offending chapters to clarify what facts I've ignored or altered... because I'm obsessive like that.**

Alice spent most of the carriage ride mulling over the immense dream she escaped from. It truly was unlike any dream she had experienced before. It felt so uncanny. Why hadn't she realized sooner that she was asleep? She was after all undoubtedly cognizant of how strange her situations were. In an ordinary dream, ones mind would unwittingly accept any and all peculiarities as perfectly mundane, and yet Alice's mind rebelled amidst the myriad nonsense, and it did so repeatedly. On the other hand, she did technically accept talking animals without objection. Perhaps it was the result of habitual courtesy that she never questioned their command of language?

These ponderings fatiqued her mind, and so she resolved to focus on something else.

"Are you certain it's alright to bring Dinah along?" she asked her sister. "I wouldn't want to spoil a first impression by giving our hosts an allergic reaction."

"Not to worry, Alice. I sincerely doubt the Porters are allergic to _any_ animals". Lizzie assured, with an amused smirk. "Prof. Porter expressed interest in meeting Dinah anyway. He told me cats remind him of his late wife."

Alice looked visibly puzzled.

"She had a fondness for cats." Lizzie clarified. "Oh that's right, I nearly forgot. Be sure not to mention Mrs. Porter around Jane. They lost her only two years ago and poor Jane is still quite sensitive about it."

Alice nodded. She and her sister new all too well what that felt like.

"Have you met Jane then?" She inquired.

"Only briefly. She's somewhat timid I think, but very creative. Constantly drawing up pictures." Lizzie raised an eyebrow at Alice. "Of course _you_ can appreciate that." she stated, in reference to their failed history lesson.

Alice couldn't help but giggle.

Finally they arrived at the Porter's residence. Their house was humble yet impressive. Two stories and surrounded by lush greenery. Insects hovered about the flower beds, and birds darted from tree to tree. It certainly looked like the kind of place one would imagine an eccentric naturalist to inhabit.

With Dinah in her arms Alice followed her sister up to the house and soon felt a chill in her shoulders. An inexplicable urge to peer back at the departing carriage. She did so, and for the briefest of moments thought she saw the hooked beak of a dodo where the drivers face should have been. Before she could react to this, her attention snapped back to the house, where Prof. Porter met them with warm greetings.

 **Historical differences so far:**

 **#1. Of course the real Alice Liddell was entirely different from the Disney version and even the original book version.**

 **#2. The concept of allergies didn't come about until 1906.**


	4. Meetings and drawings

Prof. Archimedes Q. Porter was a lively and exuberant man. Short in stature. Not much taller than Alice herself. He was somewhere in his mid forties. His brown hair only just starting to go grey.

Lizzie introduced the two of them. After complimenting Dinah (who took a liking to him immediately) the Prof. led them through the house and into the back garden. Along the way they passed a multitude of fascinating artifacts. Strange fossils and colorful insects in glass cases. Framed along the walls were an array of impressive sketches depicting exotic locations and animals. On the mantle piece Alice noticed a photograph of the Porters and her father. More prominent than anything else however were the several cats lounging or playing here and there. They were rather unusual cats. Slightly larger than Alice was used to seeing, and with oddly elongated snouts.

"Ah, don't mind the genets." Assured the Prof. in a jovial tone. "They're adequately tame."

Remembering her two recent "daydreams", Alice thought... _If any of these animals dare to grin at me, I may very well scream._

In the back garden, Jane was making corrections to the table set up. Her father could tell you the distinction between an alligator and a crocodile but he could never quite remember the 'proper' arrangement of tea wear.

As Jane was adjusting the utensils, a sensation of odd haziness washed over her head. Tired? Faint? No. This was an altogether different feeling. A singular, inexplicable phrase emerged from her thoughts...

"Clean cup."

Then came another...

"Move down."

Surrealism. That was the feeling. She heard approaching footsteps and looked up from the table to find that the guests had arrived. That feeling of surrealism faded just as swiftly as it had appeared and her attention was drawn immediately to the blonde girl in the blue dress who was cradling a kitten in her arms.

After a standard exchange of introductions, during which Jane remembered that she had actually met Elizabeth Liddell several months back, the group finaly took their seats at the table for tea. Lizzie and the Prof. wasted no time starting their own discussion. Something about struggling to fund an expedition and not having enough new scientific material for 'Liddell House' to publish. Alice of course found it dreadfully boring. Fortunately, this first meeting with Jane would be more interesting, albeit a little awkward at first. Lizzie wasn't exaggerating when she described her as timid. The small brunette in the yellow dress had a rather rigid composure. Shoulders raised slightly from apparent nervousness. She focused on sipping her tea, looking unsure of how to initiate a conversation. Alice saved her the trouble.

"Your cup appears to be chipped." She pointed out.

"Oh-y-yes. This one has always been that way. Our whole tea set is quite old. Passed down from our ancestors in France."

Under the table, Dinah was eyeballing Jane's foot which was taping restlessly.

"Lizzie told me you like to draw. Were those your sketches in the house?" Inquired Alice.

"They are. I mean some of them are mine." _And the rest were my mother's,_ she would have clarified, but did not.

"They're beautiful."

"Th-thank yo-" A fit of little giggles interrupted her reply.

"Your kitten is pouncing on my foot!" She explained, smiling down at the bouncing fuzzball. "What's her name?"

Jane's shoulders were noticeably relaxing, and her voice became more comfortable. _Most assuredly a lover of animals,_ Alice thought.

"Dinah. She's not hurting you is she?"

"Not at all. She's a little darling. Our genets are far wilder. They-" As Jane bent down to pet Dinah, all sound in the environment snuffed out like a candle in a gust. Alice was startled by it. A wall of silence filling her head.

It looked like Jane was still talking. So too were the adults. Alice's vision started to blur. She shut her eyes, resolving not to panic. The deprivation of the senses felt almost claustrophobic. Then came the sound of familiar voices.

"Why Alice! Where on earth did you emerge from?" Asked the Hatter in stunned surprise. Alice opened her eyes to find herself at the _wrong_ tea table.

"Indeed Miss Alice." The Hare interjected. "It is doubly rude of you to appear out of nothing unannounced, unexpected and STILL uninvited!"

"Well have some tea then". Offered the Hatter. "It's just as well isn't it?"

"Very, very rude-have tea." The Dormouse chimed in before descending, drowsily back into his tea-pot.

The return of her senses should have been a relief, but being back in Wonderland was a great shock.

"No! This isn't- I can't be here again! Am I asleep again?!" Alice asked in a frantic voice.

"Well my dear, if sleeping is what you're doing then you're going about it all too noisily". Replied the Hare as he poured a cup full of tinier cups into one very large cup, making loud clinking sounds as he did so.

"Try humming instead of speaking."

"Or walking instead of sleeping... but at any rate, have tea."

"No. This isn't right. I mustn't be here." Alice held her head and shut her eyes again. Trying hard to concentrate.

She focused on imagining Jane across the table, instead of the Hatter. She recalled every detail of Jane that she could. Face, hair, voice, dress. The silence came back in a wave and receded once more. She opened her eyes to see Jane looking at her with a concerned face.

"Alice. Is everything all right?" She whispered, leaning forward.

Alice looked over at her sister and the Prof. They were still engaged in their boring conversation. They hadn't noticed.

"Are you having a headache?"

"Um. No. Thank you but I'm quite alright."

"It doesn't seem like it."

"I just had..." Alice debated in her mind if she should tell Jane of her 'daydreams'. If she was mad, then perhaps she'd best keep them secret, but the look on Jane's face was so surprisingly comforting. She could see sharp focus in those green eyes. Determined understanding. This girl was already analyzing her. Trying to solve what was wrong. She looked intense, but not anxious like earlier. Alice exhaled.

"I had a very strange dream today. It's been bothering me a little. That's all."

"Would you like to talk about it?"

After tea, Jane led Alice into the library, while Lizzie and Prof. Porter continued their dialogue in the parlor. The library was rather humble. A cozy room with two floor to ceiling bookshelves on opposite walls, a rectangular table in the center and one wide window from which poured the calming late afternoon daylight. On the table was one of Jane's sketch books. The two sat on either side and Jane asked Alice to recount the beginning of her dream. With Dinah perched on her shoulder, Alice started explaining how she and her sister were sitting under a tree near the banks of the Isis. How she wandered off and spotted the White Rabbit.

"What did this rabbit look like exactly?"

Jane took her sketchbook and pencil and illustrated as Alice recited his appearance. His pocket watch, waistcoat, spectacles and so on.

"How did you feel when you saw him?"

"Curious". Alice answered. "I wanted to know what he was late for."

"Did you ever find out?"

Alice paused.

"I'm not certain I did, now that I think on it. I suppose a game of croquet". She shrugged.

As Jane was finishing the drawing, Alice noted the various books littering the table. Some scientific works like 'The Voyage of the Beagle' and an encyclopedia of African wildlife. There were also works of fiction like 'The Jungle Book', 'The Moonstone', a collection of poems and stories by Edgar Allan Poe (read often, judging by it's condition) and a penny dreadful with a cover depicting a sinister figure running along a rooftop.

Alice looked over at Jane. Her face was squarely focused on her sketching. Hindered only by the long brown locks of hair that kept falling in front of her face.

Alice stood and ventured round the table to Jane.

"Here, I can help that if you like". She fished a hair tie out from her pocket and gently pulled Jane's hair back into a loose ponytail.

"O-oh. Thank you. Yes, that helps." Just a touch of that timidness crept back into her voice.

Sitting beside her Alice watched the final details come together on the page.

"There! How's this then Miss Alice? Is this your... temporally challenged rabbit?"

The rendering was so uncannily accurate that Alice couldn't help but be taken aback by it.

"Jane, that is... Startlingly perfect."

"Were there many more of these characters in your dream?"

" _Very_ many."

Alice continued to review her adventures in Wonderland while answering Jane's questions about the inhabitants. Jane started jotting down these accounts, explaining that recollection of dreams can be difficult if you wait too long to record them. Though Alice refrained from mentioning any of her 'daydreams', it was never the less a relief getting the majority of her experiences out of her head and onto a page.

"You should fetch me next time you spot the rabbit". Jane jested. "Then we could explore this "Wonderland" together."

Alice smiled. Looking into her eyes, Jane noticed they were a familiar shade of butterfly blue.

"I think I've had enough of that place for now, but I would certainly enjoy your company next time."

 **Okay this ended up being a longer one. Guess that's what happens when I take so long writing it. I only took one historical liberty in this chapter that I'm aware of. 'The Jungle Book' wasn't published until the 1890's, however I felt pretty justified with that one, considering the fact that Disney's Tarzan actually got that detail wrong first. On the flipside, I believe 'The Moonstone' was published squarely in 1868 so... hooray for _occasional_ accuracy! The main adventure will start in the next chapter. I'll try to get that one out quicker. Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading :)**


	5. Partners and partners

**Want to give a quick shout out to Marc Jungermann on youtube. His music has been fueling my imagination for this story, especially his Alice inspired tracks 'Alice in Wonderland Horror Theme', 'Finding Alice' and it's sequel 'Through the looking Glass'. 'Forgotten Toys Parade' is another one I've been listening to a lot while writing these. He's immensely talented and I highly recommend checking out his youtube channel. Anyway, on with the chapter...**

* * *

Weeks later...

John Brown sighed heavily into the night air and retrieved the pipe from his coat. Simultaneously he prepared his tobacco while trailing behind Robert James Lees.

Leading their way through the darkness with lantern in hand, Lees simply would not shut up. Jabbering on and on about "ethereal resonance", "transcendent slumber" and all manner of other heady subjects John Brown couldn't grasp.

"We're getting close now John. I can feel it-I can tell. I. Can. TELL." The 19 year old clairvoyant was speaking a mile a minute. John had been enduring it the whole trip from London to Oxford.

"It's Mr. Brown." John corrected in his Scottish accent. Lees paid him no attention, which only annoyed John even further. It wasn't that he disliked the young man, or doubted his abilities, (After all if Her Majesty trusted him, then so would he) but hearing all this spiritualist jargon hour after hour was quite taxing.

 _All for Queen Victoria._ he reminded himself. _If this little investigation puts her mind at ease then that's all that matters._

41 year old John Brown had been the Queen's personal servant for years. To say that he took his job seriously would be a severe understatement. So when Her Majesty ordered an immediate investigation into the "disturbance" Lees had reported, John wasted no time heeding her wishes.

"It's here John!" Lees exclaimed, dashing toward the tree up ahead.

The Queen's servant didn't bother correcting him this time. Casually he caught up to Lees, smoking his pipe while listening -intently now- to the young clairvoyants rambling.

"Yes. Right...HERE! The veil was thinned."

John gazed at the tree trunk where Lees was gesturing with a theatrical arm.

"Mr. Lees, did we come all this way for a tree?"

"Please, call me Robert."

John was so punch-drunk at this point, all he could do was pinch the bridge of his nose and let out a weak chuckle.

"What do you _sense_ Robert?" He inquired, mimicking Robert's dramatic tone.

"Nothing less than a transgression of reality. here at this... TRUNK!" Again with the theatrical arm.

The young mystic crouched down and ran his hands across the bark, then the grass. John exhaled more smoke. Very tired, but patiently observing. Robert focused hard. Listening with all his senses. He listened. Then heard.

... _Cats and rabbits_...

... _would reside in fancy little houses_...

He started humming the melody out loud, prompting a raised eyebrow from his partner. The older man couldn't place it at first, but the tune sounded familiar, and as Robert continued humming... the lyrics began trickling back to John's memory. He recited them in his head in time with the humming and came to the songs end.

... _I keep wishing... it would be that way..._

John frowned.

... _because my world would be a..._

His blood went cold.

... _W_ _onderland..._

John suffered a coughing fit.

"Ah yes, I've read a bit about this." Robert stood with a look of satisfaction on his face. "Wonderland. How quaint."

"Robert are you quite certain you're divining all this correctly?" A layer of stress coated John's voice.

Without looking, the young man plucked the pipe from the Queen's most trusted servant.

"Well, no. I'm afraid I can't be certain of anything." He answered, taking a lung full and expelling it from his nostrils like a dragon. His eye twitched.

"I'm fairly certain this is unhealthy."

"Sure it is. Are we done here then?"

"It seems that way." Robert offered the pipe back. John shook his head.

"Keep it. I'm fine."

"You look ghastly. Head back to the inn and get some rest. I shall linger a while longer and see if I can find anything else."

"Right. I'll send a letter to the Queen tomorrow. Tell her we'll be staying in Oxford a while."

"Here." The younger man offered, handing over the lantern. "You need the light more than I do."

As John Brown walked back the way they came his mind raced with anxious speculation. Could someone really have accessed Wonderland? A decade had passed since the incident with Lewis Liddell and Evaline Porter. He wished he could consult them, but sadly both were now deceased.

Robert stood alone in darkness before the tree. He could 'sense' more clearly when alone in the dark. John's obviously negative reaction to the revelation of Wonderland was most puzzling to Robert. What did the Queen's servant know about this Wonderland that he didn't? What little he knew of the subject came from a small footnote in the briefing documents he had been issued by Queen Victoria six years ago. That was when he started working (secretly) for the British empire. Yes, even at the age of 13 his skills were impressive enough to catch the attention of Her Majesty, and he had only improved since then. He could do this. He could sniff out this dreamer. That's all those documents had told him about Wonderland. It was accessed through dreams. There would be traces. Lingering residue of that slumber... that wonder.

He stared at the tree and concentrated again. As he took another breath of the pipe, a fleeting impression met with his thoughts.

... _Daisy chain..._

Another breath.

... _History lesson..._

Another.

... _White Rabbit..._

His concentration bore no more results. It was all too fragmented. Singular threads, but no whole fabric. No cohesive vision. He reasoned that the dreamer (whoever they were) must have experienced a rude awakening. If only he had sensed it earlier... but alas it took quite a time for the resonance of the event to make the distance all the way from Oxford to London. Eventually Robert gave up and started back to rejoin his partner. This investigation would take longer than he thought.

* * *

6 months later... November 4th.

Alice and Jane spent time together quite often in the months after their first meeting. By now Jane had drawn up dozens of pictures portraying Alice's Wonderland and the bizarre characters that lived there. Meanwhile Alice was relieved to be free of those uncomfortable daydreams. The only possibly Wonderland related occurrence was a brief dream wherein Alice spoke to a kindly stag (who was also a tailor) and told him something about Mary Ann. It may have been just an ordinary dream, but she couldn't be sure. It was the name Mary Ann that stood out to her. She remembered that was the name of the White Rabbit's maid, whom he had mistaken Alice for.

She put it out of her head and focused on enjoying her time with Jane. Now on the day before Guy-Fawkes day, the Porters were staying at the Liddell's residence. Outside in the snow, Alice's older brothers were setting up a bonfire for the next days celebrations. Lizzie, her mother, and the Professor were conversing down the hall. Alice was sitting comfortably in an armchair, rolling up a ball of worsted with one of Dinah's kittens on her lap. Jane sat across from her beside Dinah who was busy washing her other kittens face.

As snowflakes landed softly on the windows, and a curious sound emanated from elsewhere, Jane was hard at work sketching yet another image. Thanks to her newly found muse, Jane had drawn more pictures these last six months than she had her whole life up to that point, and her skills were sharpening considerably as a result. Having run out of material from Alice's dreams, she decided this time to draw Alice herself. Ignoring the odd noise in the distance, Jane's green eyes flitted all over her subject, making sure to catch every detail. She noticed the blond girl was starting to look a bit sleepy. That sound was becoming clearer. Jane was feeling that heaviness of the eyes too, but she wanted to finish the portrait. Just some finishing details left. Eyes... nose... mouth...

She tried to concentrate, but a familiar feeling washed over her. That haze she first felt back in May. It had returned to her head in full force, making even the simple act of breathing somehow surreal. That chiming noise, faint and innocuous as it seemed at first, was definitely close now... it was somewhere in the room with them. Jane looked around, trying to locate the source. She looked back to her friend, about to ask if she could hear it. Alice was looking above Jane's head, eyes wide and mouth hanging slightly open. Jane followed her gaze straight up. Fluttering gracefully above her was an eerie yet beautiful butterfly, with wings painted a luminous blue. She recognized it straight away. Morpho Menelaus.

The creature made its way over to the chimney piece and passed right through the mounted looking glass. The drowsiness left them both and after a moment of stunned silence they looked to one another.

"You saw it too?" Alice asked with a note of worry.

Jane knit her eyebrows.

 _I know what this is._ she thought to herself.

 _Lucid dreaming. I'm asleep, but I'm fully aware._

She decided it might be interesting to play along, so she answered her friends question with a nod. Alice smiled, sprang from her chair, rushed over to the chimney piece and asked Jane to help her climb up. Moments later they both reached the top. A stunt that would most certainly land them in trouble... that is, if they were awake. The reflecting glass before them melted away, revealing a dark room beyond. They looked at each other again, quizzically this time. Noses nearly touching. Green and blue eyes analyzing each other. They wondered silently if the other was real. Could they really both be sharing this dream? Or would that just be wishful thinking? How would they know? Without saying a word they both knew they were wondering the same thing.

"Together then?" asked Alice.

"Right." Answered Jane. "Together."

After passing through the frame and climbing down the other chimney piece, the two found themselves in a darker, dustier reflection of the same room. The pair got right to exploring. The Professor's daughter investigated a bookshelf while Alice looked over a chessboard on a small table. She heard soft noises emanating from it. After brief inspection it became clear that some of the chess pieces were snoring.

Jane scanned the bookshelf carefully. The books were nondescript... save for one. An idea sprang to her mind. She read the title on the spine, then looked away for a moment, and read it again.

"Uh-oh." Jane uttered.

"Hmm?"

"Alice, come look at this!"

The blue eyed blond winced thinking the chess pieces would be disturbed, but they continued snoring away, and she joined her friend.

"Look." Jane held out the book. "Tell me. What does the title read?"

"Jabberwocky." Alice answered matter-of-factly.

Jane's face was difficult to read. A mixture of awe and confusion. Several times she looked away-then read it again.

"What on earth are you doing?" Alice giggled.

"The title-it's not... it should be changing."

"Is this a science experiment?"

"Of a sort."

Jane opened the book and read the first few lines aloud, then instructed Alice to do the same.

"This can't be..." for the first time in six months Jane felt anxious, and it showed.

"Jane, what's wrong? What is this supposed to prove?"

"It was supposed to prove that I was dreaming!"

"How?"

"Symbols and writing are practically impossible to read in a dream because they constantly change." She was now looking extremely worried as her initial curiosity withered, and the heavy implications started sinking in like boots in mud.

"I thought you said you wanted to explore Wonderland with me?"

"I didn't think it was **real!** Alice, don't you realize what this means?"

"...Most splendid playdate ever?"

"I say. Will you girls keep it quiet now?" said a small voice from the chessboard.

"Oh god..." the brunette gazed over at the board as though it were a ghost. "Either the laws of nature have been suspended or I've gone round the bend."

Alice couldn't help but smile a little. Although she didn't want Jane to be so worried, there was something quite endearing about her reaction to all of this. She took Jane by the hand, bringing her mind back to... reality?

"You can test for all that later." she joked. "And you really must get used to this. You haven't even seen the _really_ strange things yet."

After taking a deep breath Jane replied.

"Well, I suppose these could just be... _new_ laws of nature..."

"Oi, that's the spirit Madam." said one of the pieces followed by a 'shush' from another. This earned a small chuckle from Jane despite herself. Alice went back to question the chess pieces, pulling the reluctant brunette with her.

"Excuse us, but did any of you see a blue butterfly?"

"No." several grunted.

"The Caterpillar? He's that way now, is he not?" asked a rook in a grumbling voice.

"It weren't him." answered a pawn. "She means the glowy one what passed through minutes back. It flew on out the door, love."

Alice thanked the pawn and looked back to Jane eagerly. She felt immensely relieved to have confirmation that she wasn't mad, and although her previous experience in Wonderland was not entirely pleasant, she was excited to have a partner with her this time. Adding the fact that she had a decent idea of what to expect from this place now, the prospect of revisiting Wonderland seemed far less intimidating.

"Together?" she asked, gesturing to the front door.

Jane nodded "Together."

* * *

 **Ok, obvious thing first. John Brown and Robert James Lees are based on real historical figures. Of course there's no evidence that either of them performed secret missions for the British empire, Robert James Lees was not actually clairvoyant, nor was he affiliated with Queen Victoria, and I have no way of knowing what their personalities were actually like, so...yeah. The historical purist in me may be seething with pedantic rage, but the rest of me knows he'll get over it.** **On a smaller note, the exclamation "Uh-oh" may or may not have been used that far back... apparently no one knows for sure.**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thanks for reading :)**


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